Genesis
by becs1
Summary: Boy doesn't understand when Big Man talks about Genesis. Character speculation andor AU. Reviews are appreciated.


Genesis  
  
Disclaimer: In the spirit of fanfiction, none of this is mine. The characters belong to Millar & Gough Ink and Warner Brothers. The premise is based on a post-Asylum speculation by paperbkryter. The title is obviously from the Bible. Only the order of the words is mine.  
  
Spoilers: Written post-Delete. Unless this is true to the show, though, there aren't any spoilers, just theorizing. Also includes reference to Accelerate.  
  
A/N: Entirely un-betaed, so any weird inconsistencies are mine. I put a lot of thought into this one, so any constructive criticism will be entirely appreciated. Any other reviews are also wanted and welcomed.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------  
  
The boy is one without a name. He knows that other people have them, but he was never given one. Boy also knows that he doesn't know much, which is why he doesn't understand when Big Man talks about Genesis.  
  
Boy knows two people: Peter and Big Man. He doesn't think they're his friends, though, because they keep him in the same room all the time and only come in to watch him run on the treadmill. Peter comes in sometimes with meals, and he talks to Boy softly, telling him not to worry about the men with guns outside. Boy doesn't worry about them, but he worries about Big Man. Big Man doesn't carry a gun, but Boy knows he's big nonetheless.  
  
Boy remembers. He remembers being small, and sometimes he would play with a little girl and her rabbit. He liked the girl, but she was the only one he ever met. Suddenly, he wasn't small - tall as Big Man and just as strong. When that happened, he didn't see the girl anymore; he just stayed in his room like Peter asked. Boy doesn't know much about time, but he knows it goes by fast.  
  
Boy is lying alone on his cot when Big Man comes to look at him. "It's beautiful." Big Man strokes Boy's face, and Boy shudders. "Absolutely perfect."  
  
"Chip off the ol' block, eh?" Peter says, chuckling. Big Man just glares.  
  
"I refuse to think of my masterpiece as a chip off of anything, Peter." He caresses Boy's head again, lingering in his hair. "Besides, I prefer to say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." He strides out, hair flowing behind him.  
  
Boy doesn't feel like a chip, an apple, or a tree. He doesn't feel like a boy, either, but that's nothing new.  
  
Boy is thirsty. Boy is always thirsty, and hungry, too, but this time Boy feels like his throat is screaming on his behalf, even though Big Man is just outside and Boy doesn't speak around Big Man. At the scream, Peter glares at Big Man and then rushes in with water, and Boy thinks that maybe Peter doesn't like Big Man either.  
  
When Boy starts to wonder if he'll ever leave his room, Big Man seems to get an idea. Boy starts to take a pill - to prepare his mind, Peter says - and he gets books with his meals. Boy reads them and asks Peter if he can have a name. Peter just shakes his head. After a week of the pills, Big Man sits down next to Boy and tells him his story.  
  
Boy is learning things now, and he doesn't know why. Big Man comes in to whisper things in his ear. Boy wonders who Caesar is. Big Man seems to like Boy. He wants him to know things. Boy wants to learn.  
  
When Peter starts giving him the injections, Boy starts to get scared. Boy doesn't know what they do, but Big Man says that they will make him very special. Boy wants to be special, like Caesar. Big Man says that to be that special, Boy needs power. Sometimes Boy wonders if the power he feels after the injections is real or in his mind.  
  
Boy wonders if there is a world outside his room, where Big Man and Peter come from and go back to without him. He wonders if there is a world of Caesars just waiting to show him all that he can do with power. Boy wants to go there. Struggling, he is surprised when the metal restraints on his wrists scream in protest and break. He's even more surprised when guards rush in immediately, guns drawn. Five minutes later, when Big Man strides into the room and tells the guards, "Your guns are useless now," Boy doesn't think he can be surprised any more.  
  
After his restraints become unbreakable, Boy trusts himself to do nothing but lay in his bed all day. The bed is comfortable - everything is - but nothing feels right or genuine. He scowls at himself in the big mirror, and seeing his face contort is somehow comforting, like he still has some control. Suddenly, Boy realizes that the mirror isn't a mirror after all.  
  
Peter is showing Boy a Bruce Lee movie one day when Big Man rushes in. "In how long will you have it ready?" he demands, and Boy and Peter both jump.  
  
Peter stutters, "With all the skills you want him to have, sir, ingraining could take another three months, at least."  
  
"Unacceptable," Big Man spits. "The ultimate goal was just around the corner, but now it's running amok in Metropolis. We'll have to send this-" he gestures at Boy "-in as soon as possible. Get to work, Dinsmore."  
  
And they do work. Boy spends a lot of time with weights and a computer - with what Peter calls a very accurate replica of the Internet - for Boy to practice with. Boy doesn't know why he can't use the real Internet, but he can guess that it has something to do with why he's only known one room all his life. When he guesses, Boy hopes he's wrong.  
  
"I have a name for you, boy," Big Man says months later, eyes glittering with expectancy. He whispers it in Boy's ear, and Boy smiles, remembering Genesis.  
  
----------------------------------  
  
Adam struggles in the cot and looks around. He asks, "Where am I?"  
  
Peter looks at Lionel and smiles. "If you'll excuse the cliché, sir," he says, "It's alive." 


End file.
